AN 

ANNIVERSARY ORATION, 

BEL.'VEKEr ON THB 13ti. -836, 

AT THE REQUEST 

OF THE 

JEFFEKSOIV SOCIETY, 

OF THE 

UNi'^ssassTir or Virginia. 



y'-Tf — 'r — • 

BY O. N. OGDEN, 

OF LOUISIAXA. 



PRINTED BY JAMES ALEXANDER. 
1836*. 



UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, APRIL 20, 1336. 
SIR,— 

We are a committee appointed to transmit to you the loliowing 
resolution, adopted at the last meeting of the Jefferson Society of the 
University of Virginia : — 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Jefferson Society be presented to 
Mr. Ogden, for the able manner in which he discharged the duty im- 
posed upon him, on the occasion of the late anniversary celebration of 
the Society, and that a copy of his Oration be requested for publication. 

Respectfully, 

H. B. TOMLIN. 

L. P. GRAIN, 
C. C. WATKINS. 
O. N. Ogden, Esq. 



university of virginia, april 22, 1836. 
Gentlemen, — 

Your note of the 20th. instant is before me. Please communicate 
to the Jefferson Society my unfeigned thanks for their flattering kind- 
ness. In compliance with their request a copy of the address is placed 
placed^at your disposal. 

Respectfully, 

O. N. OGDEN. 

Messrs. Tomlin, Grain, and Watkins, Committee. 




t 










^Ir, President, and 4AeHtlemen of the Jef- 
ferson Society, 

WE are assembled, on the day of our anniversary celebra- 
tion, to indulge in the reflections suggested by the occasion, 
and to cherish the endearing associations, and renew the 
sacred recollections connected with the memory of Thomas 
Jefferson. Where is the eye which does not glisten with the 
fire of olden times, and whose the heart that swells not high 
with pride and patriotism at the enunciation of this name ? 
One which does not call to mind the pomp of Courts, — nor 
one sounded amid the boasts of heraldry, or the titles of 
aristocratic distinction and princely favor. The name of a 
Republican citizen and Statesman ! Virginians ! — born in 
the land of his birth, living in the country rendered classic by 
his life and labors, treading now the soil consecrated by his 
ashes, and breathing a moral atmosphere warmed and illumi- 
nated by the fire and splendor of his genius, which, even 
from the grave, sheds, like the absent sun, a light upon you 
not the less its own because reflected from the institutions to 
which it had given birth and brilliancy, — well may ye revere 
his name, and well may ye be proud to hear it spoken — But 
genial and general as the pervading presence of day was his 
influence, — and his fame, co-extensive with his usefulness, 
cannot be monopolized. Where, from the headlands of 
Maine to the shores of Louisiana, — from the Atlantic to the 
Rocky Mountains, — is the American who does not claim as 
his countryman the author of the declaration of our Indepen- 
dence ? Where, throughout the world, is the Philosopher 
and Plwlanthropist, the advocate of equal rights and enemy 
of civil and religious tyranny who does not point proudly to 
him as a fellow-man, and hail, with triumphant joy, the period 
of his existence and endeavors, as one of the brightest and 
most glorious epochs in the history of the human race ? In the 
" palmy days" of Rome many there were whose virtues and 
talents won them the merited esteem and confidence of their 
countrymen ; — many the Senator, and many the Chief whose 
councils or whose courage, had served well the State,- and 



claimed, for wisdom, or " lofty deeds and daring high," a 
grateful nation's best reward. Oxi these were preferment 
and high command conferred, — to these the honors of the 
triumph oft decreed. A voice and vote in the government of 
the empire of the world, or a high station in its victorious 
armies, were well worthy the efforts of ambitious aspirants ; 
while the spoils and captives of conquest, the gold and gems 
of the East, the costly ornaments of art, and the trophies of 
genius — all increased the splendor of the processions and 
pageants with which their successes were celebrated. The 
crowded streets — the waving of plumes and banners — the 
glare and glitter of burnished steel — the noise of the chariots 
— the tramp and neighing of the war steeds, and the shouts 
of the populace, mingling with the notes of triumph that 
burst simultaneously from a thousand instruments — the mag- 
nificent temples and imposing ceremonies, affected powerfully 
the senses, and might well have encouraged the patriotism 
which, in addition to the gratulations of conscience, received 
rewards hke these. Cicero is said to have been prouder of 
a triumph with which the Senate honored him for capturing 
a petty fortress, than of the more substantial honors of his 
consulate, or the glory of detecting and suppressing the con- 
spiracy of Cataline — or even of having pronounced before 
the most august assemblage of the world the more than elo- 
quent oration in which he has conferred an odious perpetuity 
upon the memory of this second Erostatus, more atrocious 
much in his crime than the first, who would, in wanton wick- 
edness, have sacrilegiously destroyed the proudest temple 
which man, in the fullest fruition of his most cultivated pow- 
ers, had ever erected to the Genius of civilization. In 
the middle ages the enthusistic chivalry of the knights and 
nobles found sufficient recompense in the smiles of the fair, 
and the songs of the minstrels. Each country boasted its 
warrior saint — every castle its legendary hero. And now, 
in later times, presents, and place, and pensions, and medals, 
and crosses, and stars, are proffered to bribe men to the per- 
formance of their duty, or perhaps oftener to its abandon- 
ment, which according to cabinet maxims and payment is 
sometimes the most meritorious : while a splendid funeral 
awaits alike him the brilliancy of whose talents, and tiie pu- 
rity of whose morals, have embellished and elevated the cha- 
racter and institutions of his country, and the wretch who, 
immortal in infamy, will live till the end of time in the just 
and hono;! execrations of all good men. The relics of Eng- 
land's heroes repose, in the vaults of Westminster, beside the 
haughty and selfish prelater; and v.orthlcss lordlings whose 



name and birth, and usurped station, — have enabled them 
thus, with a presumption unabated even in the grave, to in- 
vade the empire of the illustrious dead, and intrude their 
clay upon the resting place of virtue and genius. Here 
however the case is different — The great men of our coun- 
try have honors more congenial to the spirit of the age, 
and better suited to the principles they profess, and the mo- 
tives which actuate them, — honors too that cannot thus be 
prostituted by royal favoritism. Their triumphs are not the 
pomps and pageantries of cities. We carve no useless statues 
to remind us of names too deeply inscribed upon our hearts 
for us ever to forget them : we rear no splendid mausoleum, 
and engrave no funeral record, to perpetuate the remem- 
brance of men and deeds, whose memory is as imperishable 
as it is glorious. To monarchs and their minions we have 
left these last and vainest mockeries of mortality which seek 
to continue even to the tomb, the silly show of empty great- 
ness, and send to its depths the mighty ones of earth anoint- 
ed and attired for the feast of the worms, and the corruption 
of the charnel-house. In the welfare of his country our pa- 
triot's promise is spoken ; his fame is perpetuated in the deve- 
lopement of its resources, the dissemination of knowledge, and 
the perfection of the happiness of the people. Of him we 
may say, truly and emphatically, — his country is his monu- 
ment — its history his epitaph ! And surely no more fit, oi 
prouder monument to the memory of her heroes and states- 
men could we find than the wealth, the power, and the uni- 
versal and unparalleled prosperity of America — no more elo- 
quent eulogy than her history during the last half century. 
It is both profitable and pleasant to turn at times a glance 
upon the past, to call before us the scenes in which our 
father's played so well and nobly their parts, — to study their 
characters and investigate their motives, — to compare what 
has been with what is, and thence endeavor to infer the fu- 
ture. These retrospections will enable us to keep more 
steadily in view the great designs of the founders of our go- 
vernment, and the high duties to whose performance the 
spirits of the mighty dead loudly and earnestly invite us. — 
They will also tend much to soften the asperities of party 
differences; as while looking on the graves of our sires, we 
must lay aside our unfortunate jealousies and unhappy pre- 
judices in the proud contemplation of the greatness and glo- 
ries of our common ancestors. Should the worst anticipa- 
tions of the bitterest enemies of freedom be unfortunately 
realized — and America, a prey to civil dissensions, be pre- 
maturely '' decayed in her glory, and sunk in her worth," 



her happy institutions overthrown, and her hberties wrecked, 
in the storms of intestine strife, the pasta light still will shed 
which, flashing far into the surrounding gloom, will illumine 
again the horizon, and paint in rainbow hues upon the be- 
fore darkened sky, the celestial sign of iiope and promise. 

On the new continent, the moral and intellectual creation 
seems to have been fashioned after the same bold sublimity 
of outline, that characterised the works of external nature. 
Our magnificent mountains — sunny skies, and mighty rivers, 
were appropriate scenes and inspired fit associations for the 
regenerators of the world, whose minds, 

Nourish'd in the wild — 
Deep in the unpruned forest, 'midst the roar 
Of cataracts, where nursing nature smiled," 

acquired a growth and expansion which unchecked by the re- 
straints of prejudice ripened freely into the fulness of a glo- 
rious maturity. Resistless as the storms that swept the land 
were the moral energies roused into action by the oppres- 
sion of England. The soil of the soul seemed here fresh and 
fruitful as the fertile fields, whose spontaneous bounty al- 
most rivalled the productiveness of Eden. The blighting 
influence of arbitrary power, and the noxious weeds of court 
corruption, were not here to wither the germs of genius in 
their incipient growth. The founders of our political faith, 
refusing to regard ancient errors with superstitious venera- 
tion, cast all prejudice aside, and guided by reason and na- 
ture only, sought rather to effectuate what ought to be, than 
to preserve what had been, inviolate from innovation. The 
aspect of the social world, previous to the era of the Ameri- 
can revolution was one of peculiar interest. It had seemed 
as if some sinister influence was ever to retard the progress 
of improvement. And the Philosophers who overlooking, or 
endeavoring to explain, the slow advance and frequent retar- 
dation of the march of mind, had hoped still to witness in 
man's future fortunes, the happy realization of the Utopian 
visions which they had beautified with the gay forms and 
brilliant colorings of poetic imagery, saw at last, with de- 
spair, the disappointment of their most cherished anticipa- 
tions, and were compelled with pain to confess that a near 
approach to perfection seemed forever forbidden by the hin- 
derances of passion and prejudice. The alternations that 
marked the material creation seemed not less natural to the 
moral world. And the changes of this last were more nu- 
merous and inconsistent far than those of the first, as they 
depended not on the fixed and regular laws of matter, — but 
on the impetuous, untameable and ever varying impulses of the 



human heart. Although the sun of civihzation might shme 
to-day on an unclouded prospect, warming into beautiful ex- 
istence the flowers of hope and fancy, expanding the noble 
feehngs and generous susceptibilities of the soul, and making 
the desert of human nature to bloom and blossom as the 
rose, some moral Sirocco would often pass to-morrow with 
desolating fury, and shroud in darkness what before was 
bright. The extent and duration of mental improvement 
seemed, hke the continuance of animal existence, to have 
prescribed a limit which, though not always or every w^here 
invariable was seldom much exceeded, and like this too, 
to bear with them the principle of their own destruction. 
Cities had sprung up, navies floated, wealth abounded and 
prosperity prevailed, only to be succeeded by the desolation 
of savage conquest. The pomp, and pride, and power of 
the eastern empires had passed away, — their temples were 
destroyed — their palaces unroofed, — and only by the archi- 
tectural evidences which lay in chaotic confusion on the face 
of the desert, could travellers appreciate the wide spread 
ruin. They whose retrospective glance has rested on the 
successive seas of sentiment that have swept over the earth 
since the earliest dates, have seen customs of long continu- 
ance, and legislative institutions, whose wisdom had promised 
a duration commensurate with their usefulness, hurried, 
with a rapidity which baffled all speculation as to the im- 
mediate cause of their destruction, among the wrecks of the 
ruined and- lost. They have seen the ficlde breath of popu- 
lar opinion, and the ever changing current of religious creed, 
eflfecting alterations in theory, and in action, so numerous 
and varied that the rapid hand of history can scarce record 
them, as they in one moment appear, and in the next are 
borne away, to be in turn succeeded by others perhaps still 
more at variance with all that preceded. Contemplating 
the world since the march of empire turned westward from 
the principalities which had proudly reared themselves in the 
land of the sun, and whose power and splendor were equalled 
only by the completeness of their ruin, and the horrors that 
attended their subversion, — how infinite are the mutations 
of character, and the vicissitudes of fortune which are pre- 
sented us ! Nations with laws and customs as different as 
their names and origin, arising on every side, flourishing for 
a time, and fading from view, — rehgions and revelations, ad- 
vancing doctrines scarce more at variance with eaclf other 
than with reason and truth, every where gaining credence. 
Now Greek, — now Roman passes in review before us — the 
Acropolis now towers into sight, — and now the portico and 



pillars of the Pantheon greet the eye ! — Now we hear tlie 
confused cries and tumultuous noise of the '• fierce democra- 
cy" of Athens — and now behold the stately Senate of the 
Imperial City, deliberating on the fate of nations with a dig- 
nity and decorum, worthy at once of the majesty of the as- 
sembly, and of the interest and importance of the occasion 
which convened it. A change again comes o'er the scene ! 
The patriot voices that echoed in free and fearless eloquence 
through the spacious hall, in which sat the Roman Senate 
are silent now ! The soul which animated their orators, — 
which dictated the downfall of the Tarquins, and ordered 
the doom of Ctesar, has fled forever ! And if perchance some 
neglecteds park of the fire of yore, fanned by the Spirit of 
Freedom, who eager and anxious hovers above, vainly 
hoping to re-enkindle her deserted altars, should threaten to 
light up the darkness which tyranny and superstition have 
spread around the iron shod foot of armed and relentless 
Despotism, soon tramples it in the dust ! A tyrant, enervat- 
ed by luxury, and inflated with pride and and presumption, 
directs the destiny of Rome. No generous conspirator now 
is found to avenge his country — no Cato even dares to die ! " 

" So sleeps the pride of former days, 

So glory's thrill is o'er, 
And hearts tha t once beat high for praise, 

Now feel that pulse no more." 

Another change awaits us — another scene in this eventful 
drama is in progress. The northern barbarians whom the 
degenerate Romans had subsidized to defend them against 
enemies, whose anger their own tyrannical rapacity had 
aroused, now, with a just retribution, prey upon their un- 
worthy employers. Their attacks cannot be withstood by a 
people who, long accustomed to the servile bondage of their 
Emperors, have lost in the infamy of ages, all the hardy vir- 
tues of their progenitors. The downfall of the tyrant Emperors 
is achieved — the Augustan throne prostrate ; — but no cheer- 
ing cries of liberty do we hear ! No wise Brutus — no virtuous 
PubUcola spring forward to guard and guide the State. 
Even the license and tumult of a city without a ruler, would 
be preferable to the fierce shouts that ring around, and the 
violence and indiscriminate massacre which mark the une- 
qual contest between the polished people of Rome, and the 
ferocious hordes that riot and revel in the first city of the 
civilized world. The scene closes, and the curtain drops, 
hiding horrors unparalleled in the bloodiest annals of time. 
Another act is ushered in — all traces of the recent contest 
have vanished ; and a despotism strange and most stupen- 



dous now appears ; it is the tyranny of opinion — the hope- 
less slavery of the mind. We see now neither Roman Em- 
peror nor vandal Chief. The pure and pious principles of 
Christianity, have been perverted by an ambitious clergy. — 
The sceptre has yielded to the crosier. Rule from Rome, the 
quondam queen of the world, seeming most natural and legit- 
imate the Church places her throne in the decaying palace of 
theCsesars, whose magnificence she soon emulates, and whose 
power she soon surpasses. She collects the scattered re- 
mains of royal rule which the barbarians had trampled in 
the dust — and snatches from the ground the weapons that 
had been dashed from the nerveless grasp of imperial dege- 
neracy. Jerusalem, once destroyed by Roman armies is 
raised from its ruins — becomes now the sacred city of the new 
religion, and embellished with the poetic fictions of a supersti- 
tious fancy, attracts crowds of worshipping pilgrims, more 
numerous far than the legions which once levelled its walls, 
and slaughtered its citizens. Increasing in power and ra- 
pacity, the church soon substitutes force for persuasion, and 
thousands fall victims to a bigotry as cruel as unjust. 

Similar events elsewhere occur. Mahomet spreads with 
fire and sword his doctrines on the plains of Arabia : and 
before the turf is green on the grave of the Prophet, a schism 
ensues among his followers, and Ali and Omar expound, on 
the battle field, his faith with the same weapons with which 
he had before inculcated it. Persia and Turkey embrace 
the opposing creeds, which are here subdivided into factions 
equally bitter and bloody in their hostihties. While in Eu- 
rope the usurpations of the Catholic Church, increasing with 
surprising rapidity, were more extensive — and far more fatal 
to the hopes and happiness of mankind. Rome had em- 
braced within her limits all the most civilized nations of the 
earth. Greece was subject to her sway ; — and the lieuten- 
ants of the Emperors ruled the most distant and powerful 
provinces. Her dominion extended every where ; — and her 
codes of law spread now over almost every country in Eu- 
rope, attest the wide dissemination of her institutions, and 
the extensive influence of her civil polity. When the Em- 
pire became a prey to the barbarians, their devastations were 
not confined to Italy. They spread themselves throughout 
nearly the whole extent of Europe, " pouring (says a French 
historian) in a thousand destructive torrents through the land, 
— sweeping away and overwhelming in a mass, life, property 
and laws." The energies of men seemed prostrate, and the 
bonds of their union severed. The wisdom and learning of 
centuries were, in a moment; merged in the debasing igno- 



10 . 

ranee of vandal barbarism. The two great divisions of the 
Empire Avere parcelled out among a thousand petty Princes 
warring continually with each other. It is worthy of re- 
mark, that again the fate of the world was dependant on 
Rome. For scarcely had Europe began to recover from the 
shock of the northern hordes, and the waves of revolution 
to subside, when the Catholic Church, extended, from Rome, 
its rule over every neighboring nation — wielding, in the mo- 
ral and religious world, a sceptre more powerful than the 
sword of the Ceesars — and exerting an influence far more ex- 
tensive and fatal than that of Attila. The Christian Priests 
not contented with Europe, turn their eyes to Asia. The 
superstitious, they point to the land printed with the foot- 
steps of Prophets, and consecrated with the blood of Mar- 
tyrs and the sepulchre of a God — to the avaricious and am- 
bitious, the wealth of eastern nations, and the crowns of 
" paynim princes" are proffered — while to the charitable 
and chivalrous, are painted in gloAving colors the wrongs and 
sufferings of their injured brethren, and the present glory, 
and future reward of victory over the infidel enemies of 
their faith. Hundreds of thousands, of every age and sex, 
and condition of life, are hurried from their homes. 

" Banditti saints disturbing distant lands, 
And unknown nations wandering to a tomb." 

Their bones now moulder on the plains of Palestine, an 
instructive memento of popular fanaticism, and sanctified ra- 
pacity. In times still later. Kings and Priests, and their in- 
terminable disputes, boundless ambition, and insatiable ava- 
rice, are still the curses of the world. The Christians quar- 
rel among themselves, and the smoke of inquisatorial fires, 
blackens soon their horizon. The wars against the Wal- 
denses and Albigenses, and the massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew, have left them little to say about the persecutions of 
Nero — while the feuds of the rival houses of York and Lan- 
caster in England, and of the Guelphs and Ghibellines in 
Italy, and the wars of the succession in Spain, crimson with 
fraternal blood these unhappy countries. Such were some 
of the sad scenes that history presented — and surveying 
these, faint indeed, must have been the hopes of the friends 
of humanity ! But future years were not destined to roll on 
in one eternal cycle of misery to man ! A recognition of his 
civil rights was ere long to be written in the blood of Kings, 
and liberty of conscience soon to be proclaimed in a voice 
that was to be heard above the thunders of the Church. — 
There is a near and necessary connection between civil and 
religious tyranny. When man consents to abandon a por- 



n 

tion of his legitimate rights, he is easily persuaded to give up 
alK When he entrusts to one set of men his future fate, he 
will readily submit to another his present fortunes. The 
mind once deprived of its native dignity and independence, 
is easily debased ; accustomed to dictation — it revolts not at 
despotism. Kings have ever been in ail countries, the warm- 
est and firmest supporters of the Church, which last has in 
turn sustained zealously their pretensions — pronounced di- 
vine their right to rule, and with gracious gratitude, conse- 
crated them while alive, and canonized them when dead. — 
All history proves the truth of these assertions. The great- 
est impetus given to mental advancement, was undoubtedly 
by the reformation of Martin Luther. The decided stand 
made by this bold and eloquent man against Church despo- 
tism, and the unanticipated success with which he waged an 
almost hopeless war against the wealth, the talents, and the 
political influence of the clergy, opened the eyes of men to 
the extent of their own power, and the miserable weakness 
of their spiritual masters. This prepared them to assert 
their civil rights — Henry the Eighth, in his contests with the 
Popes, gave to the people of England the turn of thought, 
and experience and consequent courage, which afterwards 
prompted, and enabled them to wrest the sceptre from his 
successor. The first out-breaking of the storm which sliook 
the palaces of Europe, was the revolution by which Ciiarles 
the First lost his crown and his head. Terrible as was then 
the burst of popular fury, and ruinous to the lives and for- 
tunes of some who fell victims to principle and patriotism, as 
was the revolutionary strife ; the horrors of that eventful 
period were not without their use. Like the tempest which 
sweeping along with destructive force, prostrates alike the 
mansion of luxurious profligacy, and the dwelling places of 
the just and virtuous — levels the forests, and desolates the 
fields, and yet hurrries away with it the threatening clouds 
that had obscured the heavens— purifies the atmosphere, and 
prevents the pestilence which would secretly, but surely, have 
worked in silence a more extensive ruin — the storm of the 
revolution, swept from the political horizon the gathering 
cloud of royal prerogative, which had obscured the liglit of 
reason, and cast on the state the darkness of despotism, and 
purified, in part, the prejudices which long had shed their 
corrupting influence on the morals of the people. England 
claimed at last to be fi-ee. She had aided, and in fact, ef- 
fectuated the Lutheran reformation. She had dethroned a 
King, and made a propitiatory offering of his blood to the 
spirit of liberty. She had done much, but not enough. — 



Though slio had checked the CathoUc Church, it was but a 
change of masters. The vacant throne, with all the regaha 
of ecclesiastic rule, was given to an Episcopacy which had 
all the tyranny, without the greatness of the Romish See. — 
She had murdered Charles the First, but the Divinity, whose 
presence and protection she sought to win, asked not, nor 
would a sacrifice like this. A right so bloody was offensive 
to her peace and purity ; and the high Priest of the cere- 
mony soon turned his sacrificial sword against his country. 
The result might easily have been anticipated. Liberty had in 
one moment degenerated into licentiousness — in the next the 
reins of power were tightened into despotism. Scarcely had 
the shouts of the mob around the scaffold of Charles, ceased 
to pain the ears of the friends of order, when the welkin 
rang with " long five the Lord Protector !" Cromwell though 
a tyrant, was a wise and fortunate ruler ; yet no sooner had 
the success of his administration proved to the astonished 
world, that if Kings have a divine and hereditary right to 
rule; others may have at least the genius to govern, and shown 
the people to what a pitch of power a Chief of their choice could 
carry them than they were again anxious for change. The bells 
that tolled for his decease, soon sounded merrily for the re- 
storation. In a few weeks the people were willing, and even 
impatient to bind on their own arms the chains of the Second 
Charles, a tyrant worse and more dangerous far, than was his 
royal sire. The tyranny of the King and Church combined, 
continued through successive reigns, had before compelled 
our Fathers to fly from evils which were intolerable, but also 
irremediable by them. Yet they had not escaped entirely. — 
Tyranny prepared to pursue them — and the eastern breezes 
soon bore to their startled ears, the clank of her chains. Well 
now might the friends of civil and religious liberty have de- 
spaired ! Hope however, still remained, though all but hope 
had fled ! Our ancestors had brought with them here the 
principles of the reformation, and had cherished the remem- 
brance of Sydney and Hampden, long after the countrymen 
of these illustrious patriots had ceased to honor their memo- 
ry. It is pleasing to trace to the excess of usurpation and 
injustice their overthrow. The Enghsh government had, in 
prosecuting its ambitious schemes of conquest, and in furnish- 
ing supplies for the lavish expenditures of the court, well nigh 
exhausted the resources of the country. The ministers looked 
with greedy eyes upon the wealth of the American Colonies. 
With Kings, to desire, had been to possess ; but a lesson was 
in store for them. A British Parliament had before dethroned 
Charles for attempting to seize on the monies of the people, 



13 

without the consent of their representatives :— and now the 
principle of taxation without representation, was at once re- 
sisted by the stern and sturdy descendants of the Puritans. 
The remonstrances of the colonies seemed at first to have 
some weight with the government : but the temporary con- 
cession of the ministers soon proved but a suspension of their 
demands, until the means of enforcing them could be devised. 
They thought to force our Fathers into submission ! What ! 
were the people of America, after having been compelled to 
abandon their country, and exchange the comforts and en- 
dearments of home for the dangers and inclemencies of a sa- 
vage wilderness, to be followed to their sanctuary, and op- 
pressed and injured even before the altar which, unaided 
and unfriended, they had erected and dedicated to civil 
and religious freedom amid the difficulties and disasters of 
poverty and pestilence, and surrounded by a thousand savage 
tribes, even more cruel and relentless than their royal and 
priestly persecutors at home ? No ! Thanks to the God who 
heaped an ocean on Pharaoh's hosts, the attempt was vain ! 
The Pilgrims, unlike the Israelites, hadbrought with them nei- 
ther gold nor jewels — liberty was their only treasure, and of 
that their children would not be despoiled. " There is" in- 
deed "a point beyond which forbearance ceases to be a vir- 
tue" — beyond which submission is unnatural and cannot en- 
dure ; and the anger of those urged to resistance by a sense 
of duty, and the consciousness of wrong, though sometimes 
" still as the breeze " i? always " dreadful as the storm." It 
was not the thunder of the cannon, nor the thrust of the 
bayonet — not the armies of France, nor the monies of PIol- 
land, that achieved our hberties. A moral revolution was al- 
ready effected long before the signing of the treaty of Paris, 
before ever the declaration of our independence was drafted. 
The elevated patriotism which was abroad in the land, and 
the deep determination, that every where prevailed, to resist 
aggressions, to whose resistance conscience commanded and 
interest invited, couid never have been conquered. The 
revolution commenced almost simultaneously in all the colo- 
nies. Mr. Jefferson had but lately arrived at manhood. 
Yet young as he was, he had already given proofs of that 
genius, and of those virtues which illustrated in after life, the 
history of his country. He was, even at this time, a promi- 
nent person in Virginia, one of the wealthiest and most 
influential of the colonies. The non-intercourse resolutions 
of the people of Massachusetts Bay had called upon them 
the anger of the British Parliament, who immediately author- 
ised the King to send an army to reduce '' the rebels,'' as 



11 

they were already termed to obedience. Mr. Jefierson wlio 
was then a member of the Virginia Legislature, proposed an 
address to the monarch, and counter resolutions, makino- 
common cause 'with Massachusetts. This measure which 
was instantly adopted, may be considered the commence- 
ment of the American Union. During the contest which 
ensued, Mr. Jefferson was always active — ever earnest and 
efficient — serving with the same distinguished zeal in the 
Legislative and Executive departments of Virginia, and in 
the Continental Congress. It was well that in the celebrated 
Congress of '76 there were men superior to the prejudices of 
the times— men whose perception of what was good, and 
great and glorious, was the inspiration of nature. First and 
foremost among these was Thomas Jefferson. The character 
of the man, the nature of his exertions in Congress, the phi- 
losophic scorn with which he regarded the presumptuous 
paradoxes of hereditary and irresponsible power ; his devotion 
to his country, and his enthusiastic love for rational liberty, 
are all displayed in the eloquent paper which you have just 
heard. Never was human nature more triumphantly vindi- 
cated than there. Congress having declared that the colo- 
nies, united in the declaration, were, and of right should be, 
free and independent States, saw that a government was 
necessary which should secure that unanimity of design and 
action on the part of the States which only could enable 
them to oppose with success the armies of England : and they 
accordingly proceeded to the accomplishment of this object, 
in the midst of a dangerous and disastrous war, with a 
coolness and calmness worthy of the heroism of storied 
times. There was here no royal house from whose sons to 
choose a leader, no Louis Philippe to betray his family and 
then with consistent duplicity, turn traitor and tyrant to his 
country ; and they whose necks the yoke once had galled 
were not at all disposed to submit again their fortunes to the 
capricious clemency of a King. Quidq?dd delirant reges plec- 
Umtur Achlvi, had been often called to mind since the days 
when Agamemnon and the son of Thetis quarrelled before the 
walls of Troy. And the sad experience of mankind, since 
the institution of society, had inclined the people of America 
to believe that they would be themselves the best guardians 
of their own happiness, and the ablest advancers of their own 
interests. They ceased to credit the vaunted patriotism and 
philanthropy of those who, busy in pushing their own fortunes, 
would fain have persuaded them that their only object was 
the good of the people, denying to these by their acts, the 
right of liberty, and yet, in their professions erecting, Hke 



15 

the French Philosopher at Ferney, a temple with a pompous 
inscription, to the divinity of whose existence their whole hfe 
and labours had been a denial. Commencing with the simple 
and sublime truth, now an axiom here, that all men are cre- 
ated free and equal, they determined that all political power 
resided ultimately in the people, and that it was for their be- 
nefit solely that society was formed and government in- 
stituted : and that as the people were thus the source of power 
and the only party interested in its exercise, it was both 
just and expedient that they should retain it to themselves. 
As it was obviously impossible for the people to govern in 
the mass, a responsible representation seemed the best me- 
thod of giving action and effect to the government, and of 
preserving at the same time the privilege of the people. — 
This admission of the right and expediency of popular su- 
premacy, with the modification adopted, naturally suggested 
that the delegation of authority should be for a limited time, 
and that this authority should return sufficiently often to the 
people to enable them to exercise a real and not merely a 
nominal supervision over their agents. The sovereignty of 
the people was the basis of the articles of Confederation first 
adopted by the States, through their Representatives in 
Congress. The war of the Revolution was conducted by the 
Federative government acting under the authority of these 
articles. I will not detail the famihar history of the times. 
The victory at Yorktown silenced forever the claims of Eng- 
land. The articles of Confederation were, however, soon as- 
certained to be in a great measure inefficient, as they acted 
not upon the people generally, but only on the State govern- 
ments. The distinctive character and feeUngs of the peo- 
ple, caused by the early settlement of the country, under its 
several and separate colonial rulers, attached them closely 
and warmly to their State governments ; while the differences 
of poHcy resulting from diversities of climate and situation 
made the idea of consolidation still more repugnant, — and 
taught them to regard, and justly, the Federative feature of 
the Union as at once the palladium of their civil liberties, 
and the talismanic protector of their pecuniary interests, and 
political prosperity ; but if consolidation was disagreeable — 
and dangerous to the interests of the nation — the weakness 
consequent upon an imperfect union, was soon found to be 
equally unsatisfactory, and even more immediately and pal- 
pably detrimental. Although while the war gave one direc- 
tion to the hopes and feelings of the whole community sup- 
plies were cheerfully and readily furnished, it was found ne- 
cessary, after its termination, when there was no longer an 



16 

object of universal interest to concentrate the aims and en- 
ergies of the entire people, that the general government 
should be made more independent of the States. Congress 
with its almost infinite array of specified powers was actually 
unable to provide the means for the fulfilment of treaties 
duly made, and ratified by the government. To effect the 
requisite alterations many and serious difficulties were to be 
overcome. Already had those prejudices developed them- 
selves, which, under different forms, have several times since 
threatened the subversion of the government. The number 
of separate States, and the conflicting interests originating 
in their geographical position, or springing immediately from 
their different local institutions, rendered it extremely diffi- 
cult to devise a constitution which, without violating sectional 
policy and prejudices, should promote the purposes of gene- 
ral welfare proposed by the Union. A form of government 
which should not offend the jealousies of State sovereignly, 
and should at the same time give sufficient strength and sta- 
bility to the national councils. Difficult as was this under- 
taking it was speedily accomplished. In the formation of 
our present constitution a wonderful wisdom, and profound 
knowledge of human nature, with a most intimate acquain- 
tance with the peculiar character and circumstances of our 
country are displayed ; and this is the more astonishing as its 
framers were mostly men who had grown to greatness in the 
war of the Revolution, and who, in the tumult and turmoil 
of the battle and camp, could had but little time to devote 
to the studies of the Cabinet. Our government bears no 
trace of the strife from which it sprang. Like the fabled 
Phoenix our Eagle issued from the flames with plumage un- 
scathed by the devouring element. The leaders of armies 
became the founders of an almost unrivalled system of civil 
pohcy. The Federate form of the Senate satisfied the scru- 
pulous pride of the smaller States, while the larger ones were 
willing to yield this, in view of the proportional representation, 
in the other branch of the national legislature. These, and 
other mutual concessions prepared the people to receive and 
ratify the instrument. I need not, in addressing those who 
enjoy its advantages, dwell upon the peculiar adaptation of 
our government to the purposes for which it was designed. 
Religious liberty has been secured to us by the establishment 
of our civil rights — and we enjoy the advantages resulting 
from a dissemination of Christianity — an enlightened system 
of ethics, and a consequent elevated standard of morals, 
without any of the evils and abuses which unfortunately at- 
tended it in other times and countries — evils and abuses 



uliich were, however, in every case, chargeable not upon the 
religion itself, but solely on those who perverted its princi- 
ple?, and stained vvilh the bigotry of their own selfishness the 
divine purity of its character and precepts. 

The American people were not ungrateful, and fortunately 
their rewards encrihed both giver and receiver. General 
¥/ashington and John Adams had both been called to the 
Presidency of the Union, and now on Mr. Jefferson, after 
he had filled successively the offices of Minister to France, 
aftd Secretary of State, was conferred this highest honor in 
the power of the people to bestow. He continued through- 
out the whole of his career the earnest and able advocate 
of the principles which he had in early life professed ; and 
retired from office, at the close of a second term, with the 
proud and happy consciousness that all his patriotic aspira- 
tions were in the progress of speedy fulfilment. 

It would, however, be contrary both to reason and to ex- 
perience to suppose that our government is perfect, or that 
the people will be always, and every where, ready to abide 
by its laws. Perfection is unfortunately not of earth. Our 
Constitution, carefully worded as it is, is not without obscu- 
rity of expression and uncertainty of implication sufficient 
to occasion, if not to justify, doubts and differences of con- 
struction. 

Questions have arisen, concerning the powers of the Gene- 
ral Government, and the sovereignty of the States, in whose 
discussion, feelings of ancient ill-will, and the suggestions of 
a selfish policy, which regarded more the petty interests of a 
limited time and sectional character than the lasting good 
and glory of the whole country, were called into action by 
influential men, and urged with a zeal and earnestness which 
would have been praiseworthy and heroic in a better cause, 
and to promote a nobler purpose. But if these occasions 
gave rise to gloomy forebodings, they have also afforded 
examples of attachment to the public good and disregard of 
self which should strengthen much our most sanguine hopes 
forAmerica. 

We saw on one of these the author of " The American 
System'' voluntarily sacrifice to peace and union, a scheme 
which he had been laboring for years to perfect, — one which 
even those economists who are opposed to the theory and 
principles on which it is based, have acknowledged to be the 
worthy offspring of a gigantic genius — and one which he had 
sustained with all the strength and constancy of his unequal- 
led mind, and all the earnestness of his enthusiastic soul. — 
3 



18 

at the very moment when, from its successful operation, lie 
had hoped to realize for his country the profit and prosperity, 
and for himself the fame which he had struggled so hard to 
obtain for both. 

Peculiar indeed must be the circumstances, and urgent the 
cause, that would justify an attempt to destroy the American 
Union. 

It is unfortunately too true, however, that the period may 
soon arrive when a dissolution of this Union will be inevita- 
ble, when no compromise can prevent the separation of a peo- 
ple, the bonds of whose union are cemented by the blood of a 
common ancestry shed in a common cause, — and whom it 
were sacreligious to disunite. 

Clouds are gathering in our horizon. — The black materials 
of hate and havoc, — ungenerous jealousy, and fanatic fury, 
are rife in the Northern sky. None can deny these threat- 
ening indications of a storm. Party purposes have doubt- 
less magnified much the danger to which I allude : but, be 
this as it may, the evil is great, and increases with fearful 
rapidity. Religious enthusiasm is certainly the most 
powerful impulse that can ever operate upon the human 
mind. 

The excitement never relaxes, but is always on the in- 
crease, — as its cause is constant, and as the power of this to 
excite, augments in a direct ratio with the near assimilation 
of the mind to a state of mad fanaticism. 

The strength and continuance of this excitement prevent 
the occurrence of any suggestions of reason, or any pruden- 
tial considerations ; while the consciousness of rectitude of 
intention, which always sustains the religious enthusiast will 
arm him with fortitude to struggle against all opposition, and 
dispose him to encounter cheerfully the dungeon, — the 
rack, — steel and the stake, — ambitious of martyrdom, and 
glorying in the greatness of his tortures. 

This species of enthusiasm actuates many of those who are 
at this time most active in agitating the question of slavery, 
and it is their influence that is most to be feared. But a 
vast majority of the lower classes of the agitators are doubt- 
less influenced by the jealousy of incipient agrarianism. 

The laboring orders of the Northern cities do not see 
without jealousy the Avealth and luxury of their merchant 
masters. 

But neither the time, nor the circumstances, are yet such 
as to orginate an active manifestation of this feeling — their 
superiors " are atili al least their c-)7nit rymcny 

The jealousy is natural however, — does certainly exist, and 



19 

is easily transferred from the capitalist of the North to the 
planter of the South. The South is an Eldorado, to their 
imaginations, so far as wealth and its comforts and luxuries 
are concerned. And while toiling daily in occupations 
more menial than the labors of the Southern slave, they think 
of '-the lordly and lazy playiterj'^ of whom they have heard, 
with a jealousy embittered much by a sense of their own de- 
gradation. 

Sectional prejudice makes them careless of injuring him^ 
while thus, more from jealousy of the master than even from 
their unnecessary and officious sympathy v/ith the slave, 
whose situation is, in most respects infinitely better than their 
own, — they join in the cry of ''universal emancipation" — a 
cry which, unless the increasing intelligence of the people 
prevent it, will, when time, and a surcharged population, 
shall have wrought their usual effects, be changed even at the 
North into a loud and fierce demand for an equal distribu- 
tion of property. This may seem to some rather the ex- 
travagant suggestion of an excited imagination, than a pro- 
babiUty deducible fairly from the facts, and sanctioned by ex- 
perience, but the same feelings will prompt the latter which 
cause now the former. Let us then be vigilant — and let the 
Northern legislatures interpose their influence for our pre- 
sent protection, and the future safely of the North. In vain 
do they now cry peace to us while w^e know, too well, there 
is no peace. Inaction on their part is encouragement to 
the levellers and as injurious to us as active interference 
in their favor Avould be. 

The North should be told that much as we value the 
Union, and dear to us as are the associations connected with 
it, its only intrinsic excellence is its adaptation to the ends 
for which it was designed. Those are the mutual and gene- 
ral good, and the protection of all. It was never intended to 
be a means of bringing about the ruin of half its members — 
nor will, or can, the South sufter it to last long enough for 
this to be effected through its agency. 

The North should know that self preservation is the first 
law of nature ; that no compact can bind a people to con- 
sent to their own destruction ; and that when the alternative 
is presented us — which God forbid — of having our rights 
violated, our property taken from us — and the security of our 
fire sides disturbed — or of severing the bonds that tie us to 
them, we will erase from the Constitution the names of its 
Southern signers who never contemplated this most unjust 
perversion of its principles and i)erjured abnndonmcnt of its 
compromise conditions. 



'20 

The North should now be told explicitly that if forced so to 
do we will without hesitation or delay avail ourselves of the light 
which has lately burst in se7r?i.e splendour from the Best, 
and carrying the doctrine a short time since elucidated in so 
happy and forcible a manner in the Virginia Legislature, and 
on the floor of the United States Senate, farther than was 
perhaps intended by its able and eloquent expositors, '■'■ ex- 
punge'^ the South from the Confederacy " by drawing black 
lilies" of perpetual deuiarkation between ourselves and those 
who in their real, or pretended zeal for another race will 
have then forgotten all kindness and courtesy to their coun- 
trymen, and have shown no mercy to a people of kindred 
color and fraternal blood. The very principles and motives 
which originated the Union will then command its dissolu- 
tion. 

But we have been told that much reliance may be placed 
on the intelligence and liberality of the majority of the 
Northern people. This perhaps — probably — is so ; but 
while expecting these to arrest the further progress of the 
evil, the South should be itself its own friend, — it must be the 
best. The Southern people even if confident should not be 
careless, or lulled by false promises of protection into a 
fatal forgetfulness of their danger. 

A returning sense of right at the North may do much for 
us — self interest viore — but the firmness and vigilance of the 
United Southern People will constitute our surest safeguard. 
Here the question naturally occurs— to what sources arc 
we to look for the perfection and perpetuation of the advan- 
tages which we enjoy from our government. The obvious 
and immediate answer is — the integrity and intelligence of 
the people. 

In all times and countries to improve the moral and physi- 
cal condition of the people, will naturally be one of th.e first 
objects of government. But the ulterior motives for this 
amelioration must be dificrent under different circumstances. 
With despotic governments the origin and limitation of 
the eflfort may be generally referred better to selfishness, than 
to a philosophic philanthropy. 

If the views and designs of many royal benefactors of 
their country, be subjected to an investigation which in its 
progress is not biased by any favorable prejudice arising 
from a consideration of the good that has been done, we will 
find them much less noble and disinterested than they at 
first would seem. Such an analysis will also lead us to the 
conclusion that they would seldom, unless accidentally, ori- 
irinale thiit kind or degree of impro>ement suit;il)l<' to the 



•21 

IruG happiness and dignity of human nature. The true end 
of man's existence is the cultivation of his powers, and de- 
velopment of his fliculties — with the attainment of that hap- 
piness, and comparative excellence, consequent upon tiiis 
cultivation and development. The inevitable result of this 
would be the destruction of irresponsible power throughout 
the world. 

Educate man — refine his feelings — elevate his views — re- 
lieve him from the prejudices of royal and religious rule — 
restore him to the dignity from which he has been debased, 
and you will soon find that he can, and rcill govern himself 
A consciousness of equality would every where j^revail, and 
this with the mental power and moral courage which would at 
once occasion and accompany it, v»'ould raise champions on 
all sides, willing and ready to assert, and able to maintain 
the rights of man. This the monarch would be careful to 
prevent — while he would be desirous at the same time to im- 
prove the people to a certain extent, and to develope the re- 
sources of the country as his subjects are his instruments, 
and the power of the people the measure and standard of his 
own strength and intluence. This last consideration does 
not identify his interest with those of his subjects, because of 
the reason and limitation before mentioned ; for he is con- 
scious that it is a dangerous thing for the people to be too 
powerful or too much enlightened — and thus, fearful lest too 
well informed of their powers they should enquire into their 
rights, — he seeks to impose a limit on the advance of intellect 
by restrictions of the press, — forbidding freedom of debate, 
and abridging liberty of conscience. 

Peter the Great did much to improve the social and po- 
litical condition of Russia. But was the illustrious autocrat 
influenced as much by a generous and disinterested wish 
to improve the people for the people's salie, as by the prompt- 
ings of a policy which told him that it was only by remo- 
deling the institutions, and changing the chcracter of his 
country, that he could place himself on a par with his bro- 
ther sovereigns — only thus emulate the fame of Gustavus 
Adolphus or, which was a matter of more moment, oppose 
the arms of his warlike descendant tlie cotemporary of the 
Russian Czar ? No ! — the politic Peter saw in the power 
of the surrounding potentates, and the advancing fortunes 
of Sweden the importance of adopting those very mea- 
sures which, with an increase of territory, and the natu- 
ral improvements of time, have made Russia the proudest 
and most powerful of the European principalities. Schemes of 
conquest nmX the hope of renown all urged him to place him- 



2-2 

self and his people in a situation to further the first and ac- 
quire the last. Thus stimulated by the prospect of present 
power and future fume, he was indefatigable in his exertions. 
It was for these that he toiled in the workshops of Kings 
whom he hoped afterwards to conquer — for these that he 
raised St. Petersburg, upon the unhealthy borders of the Bal- 
tic, and summoned to the capital of his quick creation, all 
the painters, and poets, and teachers, and artizans, and men 
of science, whom his treasures could command — or his ge- 
nius and reputation invite. 

The late Emperor of the French achieved much for France. 
Yet he but improved a property snatched from the hands of 
the Bourbons — a property over which his right was more un- 
disputed, and of which his possession was more perfect and 
absolute than those of the long line of Kings before him : 
and all the augmentation of its wealth, and increase of its 
resources consequent upon his government — all the glory 
gained in its battles and all the splendour and spoils with 
which he ornamented and enriched its capital were more for 
the Emperor than for the Empire. 

But in a republican country, and with a democratic go- 
vernment, very different are the motives for improvement. 
It is a proud and pleasing reflection that while other legis- 
lators were disputing about the capacity of mankind for self- 
government, or giving their tardy and qualified assent to the 
proposition, the founders of our government, unimpeded by 
their prejudices — surmounting easily the obstacles which 
seemed mountains to their frightened fancies — and measur- 
ing mankind by themselves — placing thus a higher estimate 
on human nature than Kings could possibly have done — 
based our institutions immediately on the virtuous will and 
enlightened understanding of the people. 

In a monarchy or with an aristocratic government, where 
the sovereign power resides permanently in the hands of one 
man, or of one particular set of men — and where all public 
officers are selected from a few families influential from birth 
or wealth, the business of the state may be wisely and suc- 
cessfully transacted even while the people are sunk in igno- 
rance and vice. • 

The Capital may be the home of science and the arts, the 
birth place of genius, and the favorite haunt of poetry and 
eloquence, while the wretched inhabitants of the surround- 
ing country have scarce made a single step towards civili- 
zation. 

The court of the great Northern Emperor is perhaps the 
most brilliant and polished in Christendom, while the misera- 



•23 

ble degradation of the Russian serf has long been proverbial : 
nor can the splendors of St. Petersburg or Moscow affect so 
strongly the beholder as do the desolation and horrors of Si- 
beria, or the moral night and winter, impervious to the light 
of mind, which " reign eternal " in other of the imperial pro- 
vinces, rivalling the dreary perpetuity of their snows. 

But in a country where there are no prejudices of caste to 
determine who shall govern — where there are no statutes of 
entail to confine the transmission of wealth to a prescribed 
course of descent — but where, so far as the operation of the 
laws is concerned, property is equally divided, and conse- 
quently the advantages of education extended equally to all ; 
and where, lastly, the rulers must come from the jjcople at 
large — these last should be enlightened hi the 7?iass, to secure 
a proper administration of public affairs. Our offices are, 
from the circumstances of equality before adverted to, open 
alike to all. The lawyer, the farmer, the physician, the mer- 
chant, and sometimes the soldier may alike be called to high 
and important places of civil trust. 

It needs then no elaborate argument to prove that the ne- 
cessity of educating the people generally, may be deduced 
from the very nature and intention of a representative demo- 
cracy. The people are indeed here virtually their own ru- 
lers. Their right they exercise at the polls. If their votes 
be governed by considerations of public policy they should 
surely be able to form aright, opinions which are to affect 
vitally their interests — to decide promptly and properly 
on all the subjects presented them for their consideration, and 
to appreciate the excellencies or see the defects of every plan 
of legislation proposed by their representatives. If on the 
other hand personal partialities guide their suffrage, they 
should know how to distinguish between the true friend, 
whose manly advice springs from an honest heart, and the 
sycophant who is now their slave, that he may be afterwards 
their master — who Judas-like betrays with a kiss — who de- 
ludes their judgment and inflames their passions with insi- 
dious discourses, and slanderous abuse of those whom he 
knows are his superiors in every thing that should constitute 
a man and a politician, and who are yet unfortunately, in a 
great, measure at his mercy, as they will not, cannot stoop so 
low, or soil so much the purity of their souls. 

It is indeed a source of regret and mortification that the 
people of this country do not discriminate better between 
those from whom they choose their rulers. And to what is 
this to be attributed ? Evidently to the ignorance and folly 
of the majority of the })cople. Our judgments must be al- 



ways only comparative. Man is capable of an almost inti- 
nite approach to perfection, and as he approaches more near- 
ly to this perfection, his faults are made more manifest, by 
the high estimate which his character commands, as blemish- 
es on the brightest objects are rendered more visible by the 
surrounding brilliancy. It is with a view to what the people 
here might be, aiid aJiouU he, that we pass judgment upon 
what they are. Can it be for a moment supposed that if 
they were universally enlightened, they could tolerate their 
noisy demagogues, the audacity of wliose falsehoods and 
misrepresentations is equalled only by the insulting con- 
fidence Vvith which they are uttered ? Who can look 
with any other feelings than regret and indignation at the 
numberless excitements and '•'■ 'panics'' with which partizan 
politicians have of late so often succeeded in blinding the peo- 
ple to the true issues before them ? Their most sacred rights 
and dearest principles are made the instruments with Avhich 
to injure them. Every thing tliat is true in theory, or wise in 
practice, is pretended, and the most glorious names and in- 
spiring associations are invoked — to promote a party ! In- 
flammatory speeches are delivered, and violent newspaper 
paragraphs penned — the people are hurried along by passion 
and prejudice — they do not pause — they will not think — their 
continual excitement precludes the possibility of calm reflec- 
tion. Instead of performing properly the duties asssigned 
them, the Legislatures of the difterent states often pass the 
most of their time in party manoeuvres, while the people are 
unfortunately contented to see thus their interests neglected , 
that their delegates may dispute about their own. The sci- 
ence of legislation would indeed sometimes seem to have 
here degenerated into a system of office seeking, and the 
floor of the Assembly to be transformed into the arena, in 
which the eager competitors, their dignity debased, and all 
honorable and generous feeling lost in the circean intoxica- 
tion of an avaricious ambition, maintain a ceaseless struggle 
for a paltry prize. Here where the sovereignty of the people 
is the fundamental principle of the government, we see them 
forgetting their rights, and forsaking their duties, and pros- 
trating themselves, with a folly as fatal as that of the worship- 
pers of Juggernaut, before the demon of faction- to be 
crushed as he rides in rude riot through the land. All par- 
ties must agree that these assertions are true ; but each one 
will tell you perhaps that the fault hes with the rest; that the 
principles and practice of their opponents produce this de- 
plorable state of aflfairs. Can we not however, go farther 
into the causas rervm ? It is natural that politicians should 



^25 

use every eftbrt to promote their 'purposes. SelH.^hness is an 
orioinal principle of man's nature ; and although, when re- 
fined and elevated by the enlightened and liberal policy 
which sees the interest of each in the good of all, this prin- 
ciple may be, and often is, the origin of virtue, and of a be- • 
nevolence which, taking its color from the accompanying 
feelings that purify it, we might truly term disinterested, it 
unfortunately happens that most men do not perceive, or 
cannot properly appreciate the practical philosophy of the 
golden rule, and are unable to resist the impulse of personal 
motives, or withstand the temptations of their immediate 
interests. We cannot be so visionary as to anticipate the 
day, and look for the land, when and where, each man will 
be at once a philosopher and a philanthropist, and the selfish 
strife of party be succeeded by the generous competition of 
universal benevolence. This we could expect only in some 
fancied time like Saturn's fabled asra, or in some poetical 
paradise of a poet's imagination, whose sunny skies are never 
clouded, and whose balmy airs teem with the freshness and 
fragrance of Eden, with angels to breathe these airs and 
bask beneath those skies. At such a time, or in a Utopian 
clime like this, might these things be — but not now, and ne- 
ver on earth. Acquiescing then in the natural and necessary 
operation of the passions and selfish ambition of men, arid 
blaming no party exclusively, let us look deeper for the origin 
of the evil. Were the people better informed the shallow ar- 
tifices of intriguing demagogues would be easily exposed, 
and all their attempts rendered unavailing. This would pro- 
duce a two-fold benefit — the people would be no longer de- 
ceived, and politicians finding it now impossible to force 
them by their passions would try the gentler and more wor- 
thy method of persuading and convincing their reason. In- 
stead then of the rant and senseless violence which usually 
characterise the address of the representative to his consti- 
tuents, we would have the sound argument, and logical de- 
duction, of a man well acquainted with the subject of discus- 
sion, and at the same time aware that he can attain his end 
better by candour than by casuistry. 

There is an agent, however, still more powerful than the 
tongues of our politicians, in active and pernicious opera- 
tion among us — an agent too whose evil influence nought 
but the intelligence of the people can correct. I mean our 
party press. I say that nothing but the good sense of the 
people can correct its licentiousness, because no legislation 
on the subject can possibly be effectual or shoukl over be at- 
tempted. 
4 



ii6 

Mr. Jt'ft'eisoii said to Baron Humboldt, in a conversation 
with this celebrated traveller and philosopher, concerning a 
slanderous attack made upon himself by one of the party jour- 
nals of the day, that he "would rather protect the spirit of free- 
dom which actuated its abuse." The European thought 
this strange ; and attributed it perhaps to a natural desire on 
the part of the President to seem 7iot to feel an evil which he 
could not remedy, or to a wish to astonish the aristocratic ears 
of his distinguished visitor. But it is better to have the too 
luxuriant growth of free principles, than the barrenness of des- 
potism. Time and care may curtail properly the former ; 
while seldom a change takes place in the latter save that 
each day the scene becomes more dreary, the desolation 
each day more complete. It is only by educating the peo- 
ple that the evil can be remedied, — and this too is the only 
rightful remedy. The partizan press in this country has 
more arms than the fabled Briareus, and is in effect possess- 
ed of ubiquity. Into the mansion of the rich, and the hovel 
of the poor, the halls of learning, and the haunts of igno- 
rance, the newspaper finds its way at the same moment. 
With those, and unfortunately they are many, who are inca- 
pable of reflection, and depend upon the party press alone 
for their political opinions, its boldness of assertion is mista- 
ken for candour, and its miserable manoeuvres and paltry tricks 
seem the perfection of political talent ; while its violence of 
vituperation is attributed to an honest zeal, on the part of 
its conductors, which knows no fear in a contest for the peo- 
ple's interests with those high in place and power. They do 
not see that poverty of knowledge requires from those who 
would seem wise, this boldness of assertion ,• that wilful mis- 
representation is generally the source of its skill and success ; 
and that the courage of their champions is but like the 
valor of the Venetian bravo, who with coward cruelty stabs 
his enemy in the dark, as the editor may launch in surety 
from his stool, his slanderous invectives, at the best and 
purest of the land, since, in his insignificance secure from 
notice, he is ingloriously safe from vengeance. They who 
exert a great influence upon society, should have interests at 
stake in some degree commensurate, which may serve to en- 
sure a proper exercise of their power. But the editorial 
corps, the most influential in the country, is here, with a few 
distinguished exceptions, composed of men who have given 
no pledges to the community. A correction of the abuses 
of the press would be productive of an additional advantage. 
For so long as its present violence maintains in the minds of 
men a continual and increasing party excitement, no taste for 



•27 

literary reading can possibly be formed. Excitement de- 
mands stimulus, and the people will turn in disgust from 
the learned elaborations of the scholar — the fancies of the 
poet, and the speculations of the philosopher, to the crowded 
columns which daily tempt their morbid appetites with the 
cannibal banquet of fresh falsehoods, new slanders, and an 
endless variety of the monstrous exaggerations of a prolific 
imagination quickened by the active impulse of partizan 
feeUng. Only when this unnatural taste shall have been sup- 
pressed, can our Uterary journals be encouraged and support- 
ed by the public. The right of instruction, justly recognis- 
ed here as sacred and indefeasible, is but a further exten- 
sion of the principle of self government : and the existence 
of this right demands, and presupposes, for its proper exer- 
cise, such a degree of intelligence in the nation as will make 
it productive of good rather than of evil. It is evident that 
the most dangerous and disastrous consequences must en- 
sue if the people can be continually deceived into an im- 
proper exercise of this right. It is the most powerful en- 
gine that a party can possibly bring into action ; for the prin- 
ciple on which it is based, is one deservedly dear to us all, 
one for which our fathers fought, and one that their sons are 
jealous to preserve. The will of the people must be obeyed 
and they who urged by personal pique, or party pride, or ac- 
tuated even by a disinterested regard for the public good, may 
have attempted to oppose it, will find that they have sacrificed 
themselves to struggle vainly, and but for a moment, against 
that wiiich cannot be permanently resisted. It is right too 
that the people should have things done as they choose. The 
argument of those who assert, that they do not know so well 
as their representatives what should be done, is but a repeti- 
tion of the reasoning of those who deny the capacity of man- 
kind for self government and only proves what I have been en- 
deavoring to establish, — that the people should be enlightened. 
With the many and serious causes for difterence and jealousy 
between the several states composing this union, legislation 
must be here a matter of peculiar delicacy and uncommon 
difficulty ; and this consideration too, apart from those which 
might be urged with reference to every democratic govern- 
ment, makes it still more important that the intelligence of 
the people, who wield here so powerful an influence, should 
be a guarantee against any rash or improper action on the part 
of their rulers. The founders of this government saw and 
acknowledged, the absolute necessity of enlightening the peo- 
ple, — and that on this alone depends the duration of our in- 
stitutions. They (Midcavored in their several states, and near 



28 

their respective residences to promote a taste for mental cul- 
ture. In New England primary schools, and academies, were 
founded in sufficient number for the immediate wants of the 
population; while colleges and universities were chartered at 
almost every session of the Northern legislatures. The good 
that has been done making general the benefits of education, 
and repressing, in the same ratio, the evils and vices conse- 
quent upon ignorance — is an earnest of after progress which 
must encourage to renewed exertions the energetic Northern- 
ers. It is to be regretted that the people of the South have 
not been as active in this respect as their neighbours. This 
is to be the more lamented as education is in the South a 
thing of , peculiar interest and importance. From the nature 
of the Southern country — its slave population — and its agri- 
cultural character, it cannot, for many years at least, have 
such a representation in the national councils as will place it 
on a numerical equality with the Northern and Eastern states. 
It is then necessary, for the protection of the interests of the 
South, that in the discussion of the questions involving those 
interests, an equality of talent, and weight of character, 
and moral influence, should counterbalance the present pre- 
ponderance and equalize the scales. Recent indications tell 
us too that unless this can be soon affected, our union justly, 
valued as it is by all may not last and should not endure. 

Mr. Jefferson counselled us, and commenced himself the 
work. After his retirement to the quiet of private life, he 
seemed to feel that there was something still for him to do. 
He urged incessantly on the Legislature of his native state 
the adoption of a plan of education within the limits of its 
jurisdiction which should embrace every rank and class. He 
proposed the establishment of schools and academies in every 
town and county, with a central university to the studies of 
which last those of the former should be preparatory. The 
wisdom and policy of this scheme are obvious. We cannot 
expect the higher walks of science and literature to be at- 
tained by all. The original and constitutional differences of 
mind among men would prevent this. -The inequaUties of 
condition in the human family which Providence has ordered, 
forbid it too, with characteristic wisdom, and compensating 
kindness — since were the minds of all men equally enlight- 
ened and enlarged, an intelligence unsuited to their several 
spheres of life and action, would enable some to perceive 
too plainly and painfully the adventitious inferiorities which 
confine them to a station in society far below that of others 
who owe their elevated rank to accident and circumstance 
.•dfme. as they to these their misfortunes and degradation. 



29 

A peasant, doomed to remain throughout his hfe, a "' tiller 
of the earth" would be miserable with the pride of a prince — 
the feelings and fancy of a poet, or the varied and extensive 
knowledge of a philosopher. These difterences of condition 
are not so marked here as in other countries, but they are na- 
tural, and must every where exist. But while every mind can- 
not, and, perhaps, for the reasons just mentioned, should not, 
aspire to embrace the universe of thought and truths, which 
the human intellect can, with the most favorable opportunities 
for improvement, readily enfold within its comprehensive 
grasp, — still every possible stimulus and advantage should be 
given to all. 

The schools and academies proposed by Mr. Jefferson 
would have given these as general and uniform an extension, 
as was practicable or even necessary. The ambitious student 
would have found in the central college all the opportunities 
that he could have desired : while the indigent youths 
whose talents and industry, in the schools and academies, had 
justified hopes of future eminence and usefulness, might have 
been supported by the State, through a collegiate course ; and 
this State patronage, properly administered would have been 
a powerful incentive to exertion in the primary departments, 
and could not have failed to impart life and activity to these 
branches of the system. Mr. Jefferson's plan was not adopt- 
ed as he wished ; but he saw, before he died, the University 
of Virginia in active and efficient operation. Typifying with 
the varied combinations of its ornate architecture, the nume- 
rous beauties and perfections of its moral structure, we might 
imagine it to be a sculptured representation of the genius and 
greatness of ancient times. We fancy the odes of Anacreon, 
and the tuneful lyres of his country's minstrels, echoing 
among Ionic columns as in days long while past — here the 
splendid conceptions of Corinthian and there of Dorian archi- 
tects, with the rival glories of Corinth and Doris are called to 
mind ; while while as we look upon a model of the Pantheon, 
with its rich and rare collection of the ornaments and excel- 
lencies of almost every order, we think of Rome, 

***** And die day 

When Brutus made the dagger's edge surpass 
The conqueror's sword in bearing fame away ! 
And immortal Tully's voice, — Virgil's lay, 
And Livy's pictured page :" 

and as the light of memory kindles thus into life a thousand in- 
spiring associations, it may also, with a vivifying influence 
like that of the sun on Memnon's magic statue, warm into re- 
newed existence th<.' spirit of heroism, and the soul of elo- 



30 

quence and poesy ! To use the words of Mr. Jefterson — 
'' the effect of this institution on the fame, fortune, and 
prosperity of our country can be seen as yet but at a dis- 
tance, — but a hundred well educated youths whom it will 
turn out annually, will, ere long, fill its offices with men of 
superior qualifications, and will raise it from its humble sta- 
tion to an eminence among its associates which it has never 
yet known — no not even in its brightest days. This in- 
stitution is now qualified to raise its youth to an order of 
science unequalled in any other institution, — and this supe- 
riority will be the greater from the free range of intellect en- 
couraged there, and the restraints imposed at other semina- 
ries by the shackles of a domineering hierarchy, and a bigoted 
adhesion to ancient habits. Our sister States will be also 
repairing to the same fountain of instruction, will bring 
hither their genius to be kindled at our fire, - and will carry 
back the fraternal affections which, nourished at the same 
alma viater, will knit us to them in the indissoluble bonds of 
early personal friendships. Virginia will be a centre of ral- 
liance to the States whose youth she has educated, and as it 
were adopted — and the good '' Old Domiidon" the blessed mother 
of US all, will raise her head with pride among the nations, — 
and will present to them that splendor of genius which she 
has always possessed, but has too long suffered to rest un- 
cultivated and unknown." Let the plan proposed for Vir- 
ginia be adopted by all the Southern States, and we will be 
able to enter on a more equal footing the lists of amicable 
controversy with our northern neighbors ; and if any unfor- 
tunate accident should weaken our Union, and oppose per- 
manently our interests, we will be as respected as foes, as we 
were equal as friends. But this equality will tend more than 
any thing else to preserve us united, and to prevent the oc- 
currence of the opposition mentioned. No trivial difference 
can part us. The necessity for a dissolution of the Union 
can only arise when one of its two great divisions shall have 
acquired the power, and manifested the will to oppress and 
injure the other. We have every thing to keep us united — 
the recollections of the past — the advantages of the present, 
and the hopes of the future. Our Federative system has 
thus far succeeded admirably. It was only of late that po- 
litical economists were able to prove that human ingenuity 
and industry when most unshackled, were most productive, 
and it is only now that a similar principle in government has 
been established. The capability of man for self-government 
has never indeed until now been fairly tested. The democra- 
cy of Athens was an insensate mob — and in the Italian Re- 



31 

publics, and all other soi-disant popular governments ot nio» 
dern times, the sovereignty of the people was either a vain 
boast of fancied freedom, in which their leaders indulged 
them while their fetters were forging, or, being free, the peo- 
ple were ignorant and vicious, and on that account unable 
to govern themselves. It is now, and in America only, that 
the world has been presented with the sublime spectacle of 
a mighty people free from all restraints, save that of laws 
equal and just in their operation — enjoying their privileges 
not by the uncertain tenure of a charter wrung from the un- 
wilHng hands of despotism, but holding their liberties in fee 
siviple and unconditional — a people too, at this moment infi- 
nitely more enlightened in the mass, than are the subjects of 
any King in Europe, governing themselves, and with the in- 
crease of knowledge among them, growing each day more 
capable of self-government. And can it be thought that 
this example will have no influence abroad ? Europe may 
learn from us a lesson. On the old continent the progress of 
democracy is rapid. Let both Prince and people beware! 
Though Nicholas may insult with impunity a Polish deputa- 
tion, or the citizens of Paris congratulate, with pretended 
joy, their King on his escape from assassination, the day of 
retribution for the wrongs of Poland, and the falsehoods of 
Philippe is fast approaching. Let Kings reflect ere it is too 
late. The storm of popular fury may disperse to-morrow the 
myrmidons which march now at their bidding. The sun 
that shines to-day on the glittering spires and gilded turrets 
of their palaces, may, when next it rises, light to view one 
universal ruin. The guillotine can again be mounted, and 
the streets of their ancient Capitals may once more run red 
with royal blood. Let the people pause ! for until they are 
prepared to govern themselves, freedom will be anarchy, and 
worse than even the "tender mercies" of their Kings — for 
though their liberty 

* * * " Have the wings ol the wind, 
Of the wantonest air that the North can unbind — 

Yet if health do not sweeten the blast with her bloom, 
Nor virtue's aroma its pathway perfume, 

Unblest is the freedom and dreary the flight 

That but wanders to ruin, and wantons to blight." 

Let them pause — because the spirit that now urges them on 
is the same disorganising demon which in France, under the 
specious seeming of a pious patriotism, led the deluded peo- 
ple on to sacrifice one by one their institutions, and to aban- 
don one after another, the principles that secure the social 
compact — giving themselves each day more completely to its 



purposes, in tlie vain hope that its fluttering promises would 
be at last fulfilled — and the serenity of virtue, and the ma- 
jesty of justice revealed to their anxiously expectant gaze, un- 
til, the veil withdrawn in the strife of the revolution, the vi- 
sion of the startled victims was appalled too late by a sight 
more terrible than that which frightened from their last hope 
the despairing followers of the unmasked Mokcmna — "features 
horribler than hell e'er traced on its own brood," — vice in its 
naked deformity, and murder undisguised by the sophistries 
of false philosophy. Let both beware — because now a revo- 
lution by force must be fatal to the first, and cannot perma- 
nently advantage the last. 

A struggle at this time in any country of Europe, between 
the people and the government, will not be a simple contest 
of the mere transfer of power ; it will not be local in its re- 
sults, and the extended interests involved will make the strife 
as general as are these interests to be affected by its termina- 
tion. It will be a war of free principles on one side — against 
tyranny, and a wide array of Kings, on the other. The ho- 
ly alliance is not yet dissolved ; and the first sound of the 
Marsielloise will summon its soldiers to the field. We were 
too distant and too obscure to excite many fears or much at- 
tention. It was not thought that our country, would so soon 
produce men whom Princes should fear to meet. The court 
of Versailles in revenging herself on her ancient enemy, saw 
not the injury Avhich she was at the same time inflicting on 
the cause of royalty. But experience has at length taught 
caution to Kings. That in which a contest, however, the 
people must eventually conquer, cannot be doubted. France 
has long been ripe and ready for revolt — and the great and 
good Lafayette is no longer there with the magic wand of 
mind and moral influence, to charm to safe subsidance the 
tumultuous sea of popular commotion. The levelling prin- 
ciple is elsewhere progressing with increased rapidity. — 
O'Connell and his dishonest associates threaten soon to rev- 
olutionize England — whilst on the Peninsula, bloody wars 
and family feuds have changed to hate and contempt " the 
divinity which doth hedge a King." The strife will doubtless 
be long and bloody, but the people must and will prevail. And 
if from this contest they rise reeking with fraternal blood, 
and furious from the slaughter — their prejudices freed from 
the restraint of reason, and their passions inflamed to frenzy 
— what can we anticipate but a renewal on a wijer field of 
the horrors and failure of the French revolution — a sub- 
version of all government — and a confusion of the ele- 
ments of society, until at last the people, disgusted with 



33 

the licentiousness whicJi they had mistaken for hberty, 
recall their Kings, satisfied to sacrifice principle to peace — 
or submit perhaps to some new Napoleon of the coming cen- 
tury who will rear again, on the ruins of royalty a dictatorial 
throne, from which to speak the fiat of fate to the world be- 
neath him. Kings cannot prevent their subjects from being 
free ; but they can prepare them for the blessings of liberty, 
and thus prevent their running into the excesses of licen- 
tious abandonment. And herein will they find their interest 
and their safety. The people will not prove ungrateful ; and 
by giving freely that which they cannot long withold — by a 
policy and government in accordance with the liberal spirit 
of the times — the affections of the people may be secured, 
and their rulers thus preserve, by its beneficial exercise, their 
own decaying power. The success or failure of our experi- 
ment will influence much the destiny of Europe. Kings 
turn on us a curious and inquiring gaze — the anxious people 
look to us for encouragement and example — and call earn- 
estly for the fulfilment of the pledges which our fathers gave 
them. Let both then be instructed of our annals. With 
the fate of ourselves, of our posterity, and of the world per- 
haps, dependant on the preservation of our institutions, let 
us swear to guard them well ! We have ourselves, fellow stu- 
dents, something to do in this. We are young as yet — but 
the time is rapidly approaching when we must assume a sta- 
tion on the stage of life, and engage in the performance of 
its active duties and business. The Sylvm Academimn^i soon 
be to us but a green spot on " memory's waste." We can lin- 
ger but a very little while longer in the pleasant places of 
science, pluck but few flowers, and wreathe now not many 
garlands, as from the Eden of the mind, we take, like the first 
created, with painful regret our reluctant way. But if we 
leave with unwillingness the haunts of learning, and, still 
like Adam to engage in endless toil, — the Almighty has with 
us too kindly ordered that labour shall sweeten success. — 
There is an inseparable connection between our duty and our 
happiness. Virtue is even now and here its own reward. — 
And whether we are so unfortunate as to think we can recon- 
cile it with the wisdom, and justice, and manifest benevolence 
of God, that he should have created man, in cruel sport, with 
a mind infinite in its conceptions, and equally illimitable in 
its aspirations, — with that mind and all its proud imaginings, 
ambitious hopes, and confident claims to immortality, to be 
narrowed down to life's brief span, and quenched in the 
damps and darkness of the grave — or look beyond this scene 
of petty triumphs and trials, to a future world where, bask- 



34 

\ng in the divine cflulgcncc the soul ol inan may eApand into 
the perfect realization of" that glory and greatness of which 
here it can only dream, we must all acknowledge the duty 
and advantage of improving now, to the utmost, the facul- 
ties which have been given us to cultivate and not to neg- 
lect or abuse, — either to fulfil the purposes of our present 
existence, or to prepare for the high communion which may 
in after life await us, or to accomplish both these objects. 
The susceptibility of the mind for the enjoyment of hap- 
piness increases with its increased refinement. The cultiva- 
ted intellect derives pleasure from a thousand objects, which, 
without this cultivation, would not have suggested a single 
pleasing association. And the happiness which depends on 
the improvement of man's mind is alone worthy of his na- 
ture. 

In fulfilling the duties which we owe to ourselves, we will 
also prepare for the discharge of those that we owe to our 
country. We are individuals — but national character takes 
its color from individual traits — individual influence deter- 
mines the nature of national exertions. 

We have near us a " Mecca ^ at whose sacred shrine to kin- 
dle our zeal and inspire our hopes. On yonder mountain, 
which rears its head high above the surrounding elevations, 
rest the remains of Thomas Jefferson — ai)art from the spe- 
cious splendour of cities — far from the noisy haunts of men, 
and sleeping undisturbed in the silence and solitude of na- 
ture. We feel as we gaze upon the height, that there should 
be tiie grave of Jefferson. 

The rock of St. Helena is an appropriate resting place 
for Napoleon. The changing winds which shift around are 
just emblems of the inconstancy of his fortunes, who from 
the master of Kings, and the founder of dynasties became in 
a few brief weeks the unwilling hermit of the ocean. The 
fury of the tempest that tosses against his rocky tomb a 
thousand wrecks, calls to mind the fearful desolation that he 
carried so cruelly through the fairest provinces of Europe. — 
While the painful glare^of Afric's sun, in its meridian fervour, 
and its sudden obscuration, as it sometimes sinks in the wave, 
the storm howling awfully its requiem, may denote the splen- 
dor of his noon day successes, and the horrors of his after 
fate. 

Not such the sepulchre of Jefferson ! The breeze which 
fans its sides, and breathes through the surrounding fo- 
liage a mournful music, is scented with the fragrance of a 
hundred fields teeming with the rich luxuriance of western 
nature— and the fruits'and flowers of n southern dimC; whose 



genial influences are aided by the kindly care of man. The 
storm that may rage below, reaches not the summit of the 
mountain ; and so was he who is there interred, above the 
prejudices, and superior to the weakness of human nature — 
as fixed and immovable in his principles as that mountain on 
its base. The sun hastes to shed its earliest rays, and lingers 
to leave its latest light upon his tomb — and as it descends 
slowly the mountain, tinging its top as it goes, with the mel- 
low hues of evening, and casting on the clouds the rich pur- 
ple of a summer sun-set, it but resembles the sage of Mon- 
ticello, who sank even more gloriously to rest ! 



ERRATA. 

5th. page 6th. line, for — congenial to the spirit, read — con- 
genial iviih the spirit. 

13th. page 15th. line from bottom, for — before ever the de- 
claration, read — before even the declaration. 

14th. page 12th line from bottom, the latin sentence is 
printed incorrectly in a part of the edition, it should be — 
Quidquid, delirant reges plectuntur Achivi. 



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